In today's edition, Trump businesses benefit from GOP campaign spending, Baton Rouge engineers its open data for community involvement, the case for closing digital loopholes in campaign finance transparency becomes more clear, more bad news for EPA chief Scott Pruitt, Hungarians take to the streets, and more.
Continue readingThis Week in Conflicts: Panamanian problems, What isn’t staying in Vegas, a Ukrainian connection, and Bolton’s SuperPAC
This week, lawyers for the Trump Organization asked the Panamanian president to intervene and help the company as they battle over the former Trump-branded hotel in the country, Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel has limits on hiring family, and questions surround the new national security adviser’s political donation organizations.
Continue readingFacebook’s commitments to transparency before Congress are welcome, but insufficient
Unless Congress takes more time to understand and then to craft careful remedies, the emerging challenges for open government that Facebook is implicated in – from automated activity to algorithmic transparency to public speech on private platforms to data ethics and protections to anti-trust concerns to artificial intelligence – will most likely be obscured by more sound and fury emanating from Washington that ultimately signifies nothing.
Continue readingToday in OpenGov: Pardon Me?
In today's edition, Bethlehem, PA wrote its open data policy with a little help from our "wizard," President Trump considers a pardon, more Facebook fallout in Washington, an open data refresh in the UK, and more.
Continue readingHow Baton Rouge is engineering open data for community involvement
Baton Rouge wants to make sure residents know about new open datasets as soon as they’re available. Leaders see this as a way to keep residents in the know about new resources, as well as an important part of how governments can and should be transparent in a digital era. A new website brings together all this work in one place.
Continue readingHow Bethlehem PA wrote its own open data policy—and you can, too
It doesn't take a huge staff or financial investment to start publishing open city data. Just ask Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Continue readingToday in OpenGov: Enquiries
In today's edition, Secretary of State hopeful Mike Pompeo's failure to disclose business ties with China may complicate his upcoming confirmation hearing, we join a group letter urging Congress to support the Honest Ads Act, Ohio's House speaker resigns, Hungary closes its civic spaces, and more.
Continue readingToday in OpenGov: Honesty is the best policy
In today's edition, Mark Zuckerberg is halfway done with his trip to Capitol Hill, Atlanta announces a new budget transparency effort, a new report takes the Internet's temperature, foreign assistance spending data gets updated, the EPA gets rid of another staffer who pushed back against Scott Pruitt, and more.
Continue readingSelf-regulation isn’t enough for online political ads: Congress should pass the Honest Ads Act
Facebook and Twitter have endorsed the Honest Ads Act, but Google hasn't come out for the bill yet – and many other companies that run political ads online remain silent. Congress needs to mandate a level playing field for transparency online.
Continue readingToday in OpenGov: Inner circles
In today's edition, the FBI raided President Trump's personal lawyer's office, Mark Zuckerberg faces Congress, D.C. charter schools don't want to share (information), we consider how to shed light on the ways that oligarchs hide their money, and more.
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